School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. (SBPLI) will present the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) LEGO League (FLL) Qualifying Tournaments on February 1 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and February 2 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Central Islip Senior High School, which is located at 85 Wheeler Road in Central Islip. The tournaments are being hosted by the Central Islip Union Free School District Board of Education and Craig G. Carr, Superintendent, Central Islip UFSD.

This year’s challenge is NATURE’S FURY^SM, where children in elementary and middle school will research and present their own creative solutions to one of the largest international issues — natural disasters — which have affected nearly three billion people globally. Children and their coaches will utilize robots to solve a set of natural disaster missions. Some will include positioning an evacuation sign, clearing an airplane's runway of debris, and developing solutions that could be used in the future.

The FLL Tournament is an international, annual sports-like challenge for children ages nine to 14 to test their creative robotic skills by using science and technology with the help of adult mentors. Currently, there are 23,000 teams from 80 countries worldwide that participate in FLL tournaments. On Long Island, 110 teams and more than 1,000 students will participate on February 1 and 2.

We cannot wait to see what these students have in store for this year’s FLL tournament,” says Joani Madarash, Executive Director, School-Business Partnerships of Long Island, Inc. “It is exciting to see the creativity these children possess as they complete their missions that are required in the tournament. We hope the FLL tournament will encourage children to continue their interest in science and technology when they enter high school and join theFIRST robotics team there.”

For more information about SBPLI, visit www.sbpli.org.